Haverhill boxer Matt Fitch reflects on title defeat

Steve Barton

Haverhill boxer Matt Fitch was in a phlegmatic frame of mind after losing his EBA Heavyweight title fight to Chris Wootten.

Haverhill boxer Matt Fitch was in a phlegmatic frame of mind after losing his EBA Heavyweight title fight to Chris Wootten.

The 31-year-old’s corner threw in the towel in the fourth of six scheduled rounds against the reigning champion at the Grays Civic Hall on Saturday.

The loss was only Fitch’s second in 21 licensed boxing contests and prevented him winning a fifth different weight division title.

Fitch remains on course to turn professional but conceded that giving away 18kg and seven inches in height ultimately proved too much in what transpired to be a bone-crunching bout in which both men had their noses broken - Wootten in round one and Fitch in the next round.

“I picked that fight because I wanted to do all five (weights) but it was too much really. He was keeping me at the end of his range,” said Fitch, who despite losing was never put down on the canvas.

“The weight difference was telling so much. He was just too strong. I was gutted.

“I got caught with a really big shot in the fourth and my legs were like concrete.

“He fell on me and when I got up I was a bit whoa and my corner just threw the towel in.

“I was taking some really heavy shots.”

As a favour to his trainer, Fitch says he will compete once more as an amateur, in a light-heavyweight contest in Clacton on December 10, an event that is raising money for the Amelia-Mae Foundation.